They moved uphill slowly, staying close, flashlights clenched tight in their hands as they scanned the darkness around them. The slope wasn't steep, but it was uneven—roots and loose stones hidden beneath leaves, every step taken carefully.
Darren exhaled once they reached the top.
Nothing.
No trail. No lights. No signs of anyone else.
Just more forest.
James, on the other hand, didn't stop. He pushed past them, walking faster, shoulders tense, boots crunching against gravel as he climbed a few steps higher.
"Is he okay?" Charlie muttered under his breath.
Ava didn't look away from the trees. "After everything that's happened," she said quietly, "I don't think any of us are 'okay.' He'll be fine."
Before anyone could respond—
"Hey!" James shouted. "Guys—over here!"
Charlie and Darren exchanged a look.
Then they moved.
They hurried toward James, flashlights bouncing as the ground leveled out—and then they saw it.
A cave.
Its mouth opened between two jagged rock faces, wide enough to swallow them whole. The stone around it was dark and damp, streaked with moss and shadow. The inside vanished almost immediately into blackness, the beam of James's flashlight barely scratching the surface before the darkness swallowed it again.
The air near it felt colder.
Still.
Wrong.
Charlie slowed. "Something tells me we shouldn't go in there."
Jenna glanced back the way they'd come.
The forest behind them felt exposed now—too open, too quiet. After the scream. After Stacy. Standing out here didn't feel safe.
But neither did that cave.
She let out a slow breath, torn.
Darren didn't say anything. He didn't know what to think. The cave made his skin prickle, the same tight feeling curling low in his chest—but the thought of staying out in the open all night wasn't any better.
He lowered himself onto a rock, elbows resting on his knees.
Ava sat down nearby a moment later. "I just…" Her voice wavered. "I just hope we find someone. Other campers. Anyone who can tell us where we are."
No one answered.
Hope thinned as the night stretched on, heavy and unyielding.
Then a sound broke the silence.
Not a scream.
A call.
Long. Hollow. Repeating.
An owl.
It echoed through the trees again and again, sharp and mournful, refusing to fade.
Charlie stiffened. "Okay—no. I'm not being paranoid, right? That sound is… a lot."
"It's just an owl," James said quickly. Too quickly. "Birds do that."
But none of them relaxed.
Every sound set their nerves on edge. Every second dragged, time crawling forward as the darkness pressed closer.
Darren checked his phone.
Still no signal.
The time glowed back at him—hours until morning.
They weren't leaving tonight.
He looked toward the cave again.
The owl called once more, closer this time, the sound scraping against his nerves in a way he couldn't explain.
Darren stood and walked over, stopping beside Jenna.
She looked exhausted. Hollow. Like she was carrying something too heavy for one night.
"Jenna," he said softly. "Maybe we check the cave. Just… see what's inside."
She hesitated.
Then slowly, she nodded.
"Let's do it."
They gathered at the cave entrance, flashlights raised, beams cutting thin paths into the dark.
Up close, the cave was bigger than it had looked from a distance. The opening widened quickly, swallowing the light instead of reflecting it. The walls curved inward, rough and uneven, and the darkness beyond seemed thicker somehow—like it had weight.
They couldn't see the end.
"I'll go first," James said.
He stepped into the cave, boots scraping softly against stone.
Darren exchanged a look with Charlie, then followed. One by one, the others went in after them.
"Guys," Jenna said quietly from behind, "watch your footing. It slopes down. You could slip."
The cave descended gently, the ground uneven beneath their feet. Water dripped somewhere deeper inside, each sound echoing too long. Their flashlights bobbed with every step, shadows stretching and collapsing along the walls.
After a few seconds—
Darren slowed.
He frowned slightly and breathed in again.
Something was different.
The air smelled… off.
Not damp. Not like mold or wet stone.
Something heavier.
Rotten.
Metallic.
At first, he thought it might just be the cave—but then the smell grew stronger, clinging to the back of his throat.
Jenna stopped too.
"…Do you guys smell that?" she asked quietly.
James glanced back. "Smell what?"
But a second later, his expression changed. He wrinkled his nose.
"Oh. Yeah." He hesitated. "That's… gross."
Ava grimaced. "It smells like shit," she said, half joking—half not.
Darren swallowed again. "Or blood."
Charlie shot him a look. "Dude. Come on. Don't say that."
Darren forced a small smile, but the unease stayed lodged in his chest.
Because he wasn't kidding.
It really did smell like blood—old, thick, and sour, like something that had soaked into the stone and never fully washed away.
Before anyone could say more—
Jenna's flashlight beam caught on something ahead.
Something that flashed back at her.
She froze.
Then, suddenly, she moved.
"Wait—Jenna," Ava called.
But Jenna was already rushing forward.
She dropped to her knees and reached for the object, fingers trembling as she lifted it from the ground.
Gold.
A necklace.
Simple. Delicate. Familiar.
Jenna stared at it as if the cave had vanished around her. Her breath hitched, and before she could stop it, tears slipped down her cheeks.
"Jenna?" Darren said softly. "You okay? What is that?"
She didn't answer right away.
Her hand tightened around the necklace.
"I told her not to—"
Her voice broke. She shook her head sharply and went silent.
Ava's gaze dropped to the cave floor near her knees—and her expression faltered.
Guilt flickered across her face.
Or maybe grief.
"I'm okay," Jenna said finally. The words came out thin and unconvincing. "I… I think."
She was crying.
Ava exhaled softly and stepped closer, resting a hand on Jenna's shoulder, pulling her into a brief, wordless hug. Darren and Charlie exchanged confused looks. They didn't understand—not yet.
Then—
"Hey—guys."
James's voice echoed from deeper inside the cave.
It didn't sound like him.
The confidence was gone. Replaced by something tight and brittle.
Fear.
"Guys!" he called again.
Darren and Charlie moved instantly, flashlights swinging as they hurried toward the sound. The cave dipped lower, the air colder, heavier—
And then Darren saw it.
He froze.
At the bottom of the cave lay a cluster of skulls.
Human skulls.
Six of them.
They were scattered across the stone floor, some cracked, some stained dark, their empty sockets turned at strange angles. Around them lay other remains—animal skulls too, large and misshapen. A bear, maybe. Something else Darren couldn't identify.
But it wasn't just skulls.
A rib cage lay half-buried in the dirt, picked clean. Long bones—legs, arms—were scattered nearby, stripped bare, as if whatever had fed here had taken only what it wanted and left the rest behind.
Torn scraps of clothing were mixed in among the remains. A jacket sleeve. A shredded backpack, its straps snapped and chewed through. Personal things—things people had carried with them—discarded like they meant nothing.
The ground beneath it all was smeared with dried blood—dark, flaky, caked into the stone like rust. Sticky residue clung to the skulls, still glossy in the flashlight beam.
Old blood.
That was the smell.
"Oh my god…" Darren whispered.
Ava staggered closer, one hand pressed to her mouth. Jenna followed slowly, her face drained of color.
"Holy shit," Ava breathed.
James swallowed hard. "I think… I think I know why there aren't any other campers."
No one asked him to finish.
"They're dead, but who could've done this?" he said quietly.
"I'm gonna throw up," Ava muttered, turning away.
Darren couldn't look away.
"Whatever did this," he said slowly, voice tight, "it didn't just kill them."
He gestured toward the skulls. "It kept them. Brought them here. Hid them."
Charlie stood frozen, flashlight trembling in his grip. "But… what could do this?"
No one answered.
Then—
The scream came again.
Louder.
Closer.
It tore through the forest outside the cave, high and piercing, wrong in a way that made Darren's skin crawl. The sound echoed against the cave walls, vibrating through bone and stone alike.
Ava flinched. Jenna grabbed her arm.
The scream came again—closer still.
That wasn't a bear.
That wasn't any animal Darren had ever heard.
Darren slowly turned his flashlight toward the cave entrance.
Then back to the skulls.
A sick realization settled in his chest.
"That thing…" he said quietly. "It keeps these here."
His voice dropped. "This isn't just where it hunts."
He swallowed.
"This is its lair."
And somewhere outside the cave—
It was coming back.